Shell Memory Tree

About a mile from Residents Beach going north towards Sand Dollar Island, you’ll come upon a group of dead mangrove trees at the edge of dunes. Beach walkers commemorated their visit with special messages as they strolled North.

They picked up imperfect shells with notches or holes in them and hung them onto the trees. Some walkers took the shells home and wrote messages inside the shells and came back and hung them up – turning the dead tree into something special. If they did not have a string, they tucked the shell into a notch or let the shell dangle from a twig. It has become a ritual for beach walkers to stop by the Shell Tree and read the mementos. One shell read “Thanks for the memories, Wisconsin 2024.”